While you are reading, having an environment to work with is a MUST. Luckily 2007 can run on 32 bit hardware, so this shouldn't be an issue for you. You can probably still find free trial VM"s out on the net.

Once you get a good handle, definately go for the certifications mentioned above. There are two tracks, Dev or IT Pro. I took both IT Pro exams, one for WSS and one for MOSS. There are exam specific books out, although I didn't use them. All I used were the books above, and real world experience by playing around in my test farm.

Definately pursue the 2010 certs as well, although there isn't a lot as far as training material as of right now. Same deal with 2010, there is a Dev track and a IT Pro track (two exams on each track). I've passed both the IT Pro exams and I will say that the second 2010 exam was pretty difficult.

Good 2010 books that I've read:

-Professional 2010 Administration (Young and Klindt, both good SP guys. Klindt has a blog that you should follow).
-SharePoint 2010 Administrators Companion
-SharePoint 2010 Disaster Recovery
-Real World SharePoint 2010 (every author has a blog that you should check out)

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